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Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure
Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure, formerly known by its test title as Spyro's Kingdom, is the first game of the ''Skylanders'' franchise, published by Activision, and developed by Toys for Bob for the Wii, Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. It was also developed by Vicarious Visions for the 3DS release. Square Enix published the Japanese release of the game. Frima Studio developed the web, iPhone, and iPad version of Skylanders. Story Summary In Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure, players take on the role of a powerful Portal Master, who can control over 30 different characters, including the beloved purple dragon, Spyro. Each of these heroes is a protector of an amazing, mysterious world, but they have been ejected from their world by the sinister Portal Master known as Kaos, and now, they are frozen in our world as toys. Only the players of Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure can get them back into their world, by embarking on a fantastical journey where they will explore mythical lands, battle menacing, outlandish creatures, collect treasures, and solve challenging puzzles as a part of the quest to save their world. Features Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure changes the way others look at toys and video games, as well as how they interact with them by introducing action figures that become interaction figures and remember all of their dynamic experiences created in the game. For the first time ever, players can personally customize and power-up their toys, as well as bring them to life on a friend’s Portal of Power for co-op play and player-versus-player arena battles. Additionally, with the freedom to change characters whenever they like, Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure allows kids to utilize different interaction figures and strategies each time they play. Version Differences 3DS Version This version of Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure is more of an action platformer than the console versions. Players have to complete levels by gathering Radiance Crystals, which lets you unlock more levels. Each level is littered with crystals, obtained by going towards the end of the level, or by doing a variety of tasks (like defeating an x amount of enemies, or finding five items). Whenever you find a crystal, Hektore appears and a time limit starts. They have to defeat enemies, and use rockets to ward off the chasing enemy. In this version, the game is set in a different realm in Skylands called the Radiant Isles, and a different force of darkness is faced under the command of Hektore. Unlike other versions, characters can make a jump, and a double jump. There is also an exclusive mode called Tag-Team. In it, you bring two characters into the game whenever you want and switch between them. This allows you to create over 600 combinations of teams using the toys favorites. The 3DS Starter Pack bundle will also have different figures from the console versions. While the consoles versions of the Starter Pack bundle will contain Spyro, Trigger Happy and Gill Grunt, the 3DS bundle will have Dark Spyro, Ignitor and Stealth Elf. Gameplay Characters each have a primary attack, and a secondary attack. They gain experience points by defeating monsters, and leveling up will result in the possibility of getting upgrades. Each character has its own special abilities that differ from each other, as well as assigned elements. This provides some replayability, as each character faces the world in different ways. Treasures, such as gems, rings, and coins, can be found all over the worlds either laying on the ground, or hiding inside breakable containers. Orbs come from defeated enemies, and it gives the characters experience points. Devouring food recovers some of the character's health. With two players on hand, they can cooperatively play the game together, or against each other in a variety of arenas to choose from, each having its own appearance, and obstacles within it. Exploration As the tale unfolds, players will encounter a variety of vivid environments, each with its own unique look and feel, and each providing different challenges, puzzles, and the discovery of secret areas, rewards, and mini-games. Elements Each Skylander has his or her own element. They are classified by eight, elemental classes: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Life, Undead, Magic, and Tech; each having their own heroic challenges that are unlocked as more characters are collected. Players can collect and then strategically select their favorite Skylanders within the different element types to go up against certain enemies, obstacles, and puzzles as well as access new areas within the different levels of the game. Co-Operative Play Players can join forces with friends and drop in and out of each level with as many different interaction figures as they like. Different strategies can come into play as players can select their favorite characters to tag-team against certain obstacles, hazards and/or enemies within the different levels of the game. Player vs. Player A classic battle mode provides a selection of different game modes and arena maps for players to face off against each other. Each unique arena map contains a variety of obstacles, hazards and power-ups. Players will want to make sure they build up their army of different characters and level them all up to battle their friends on equal ground. Collectibles Toys and collectible cards will be sold separately that can be synchronized with the game and will be used to unlock powers and items. Each toy will act as the player's character and there will be a total of 32 toys, one of which being Spyro. Multiple players will be able to play cooperatively or against one another. Plot Console Version The game starts with Master Eon greeting the young player, who is the new Portal Master, and explains to them of the world of Skylands, a world filled with wonder and mystery where the Portal Masters and the Skylanders kept peace and balance so that all creatures can thrive. But Skylands is in grave danger, and it needs the help of the new Portal Master. Afterwards, the new Portal Master and the Skylanders meet up with Hugo, Eon's assistant, and Flynn, the balloonist, on the Shattered Island and saved the villagers from a freak tornado ravaging their town, revealing the return of the Skylanders. As they make their way to the Ruins, Hugo explains to the new Portal Master how Skylands became its current state. The Portal Masters had protected Skylands for as long as anyone could remember. Master Eon, the last good Portal Master of Skylands, and his Skylanders guarded the Core of Light, a great machine that enriched Skylands and repelling The Darkness, the ultimate force behind all evil. However, Kaos, an evil Portal Master who attempted to destroy the Core of Light in the past, returned from his banishment in the Outlands to destroy the Core to rule Skylands as its emperor, knowing that Eon has grown weaker with age. The Skylanders fought against Kaos' minions to protect the Core of Light, and just as they were winning the battle, Kaos unleashed a mysterious creature that successfully destroyed the Core, causing the Skylanders to be banished from their world. As the Skylanders were drifted farther away from the magic of Skylands, they began to shrink until they reached Earth, where they were turned into toys as a result of that world having no magic and awaited for the new Portal Master to find them. Master Eon survived the destruction of the Core of Light, but became a spirit and couldn't fight the Darkness without his physical body. He then awaited for the arrival of a new Portal Master until one finally arrived: the young player. After saving Cali from a group of evil Drow, Hugo begins with tasking the Skylanders in recovering the missing Eternal Sources needed to rebuild the Core of Light. Kaos soon becomes aware of the new Portal Master and the Skylanders, attempting to stop them from retrieving the Eternal Sources, but fails. With the help of the new Portal Master, the Skylanders recover the missing Eternal Sources with the help of new allies, including a Gillman named Gurglefin, a newly grown Tree person named Arbo, and a sarcastic Undead skeleton, T-Bone. Eventually, the Core of Light is restored, repelling the Darkness from Skylands and driving Kaos back into the Outlands. Despite their victory, Hugo knew that the fight wasn't over, since Kaos still has the very weapon that he used to destroy Core of Light and knows that the tyrant will do the same again. The decision is made to take the battle to Kaos in his lair. Using the Core of Light, the Skylanders are transported to the Lair of Kaos where the enemies they faced before lurk before confronting Kaos himself face-to-face. During the battle, Kaos reveals his most powerful minion to aid him in the fight against the Skylanders, the very minion that destroyed the Core of Light and caused Eon to be in his current spirit state: the Hydra. The Skylanders successfully defeated Kaos, his dark minions, and the Hydra, and he was soon imprisoned inside a forcefield back at the Ruins. After a tender moment between Flynn and Cali, Kaos then vowed to Eon that he'll keep returning to Skylands until it was his if he was to be banished to the Outlands again, but Master Eon had a more fitting place in mind to banish Kaos to instead. Eon gave Hugo the honor to type in the coordinates to Kaos' destination of exile in the Core of Light, with Kaos attempting to bargain with Hugo to share Skylands if he was set free. Knowing Kaos and his evil ways, Hugo typed in the final coordinates, sending the evil tyrant skywards out of Skylands to Earth, where he is turned into a toy and is soon tormented by a dog. Master Eon appears before the new Portal Master, explaining that they may have seen the last of Kaos and the Darkness, but there was still much to do, and that their journey with their Skylanders is only just beginning. 3DS Version The young player is greeted by Master Eon, the last protector of the realm, and he quickly explains that Skylands need their help. The Radiant Isles was the tranquil home to the Mystic Seekers, until The Darkness arrived and brought in a fearsome invader from the Outlands: Hektore. Using the power of the Darkness, Hektore enslaved the Seekers and forced them to build the Dark Mirror, which Hektore uses to shroud the Radiant Isles from the rest of Skylands to keep the power of the Seekers for himself. Master Eon then gave the new Portal Master the main objective: lead the Skylanders to destroy the Dark Mirror and free the Radiant Isles. The young Portal Master is then teleported to an area where the leader of the Mystic Seekers, Fargus, and his son, Wendel, were awaiting for the new Portal Master's arrival, having escaped from Hektore. Before Fargus can start explaining on what to do next, evil laughter filled the air as Hektore has rediscovered Fargus and Wendel and was homing in on their location. In his haste, Fargus gave the new Portal Master the task of gathering Radiance Crystals, rebuilding the Shattering Sigil and destroy the Dark Mirror before he giving the title of the Last Free Seeker to Wendel. As Hektore arrived, Fargus sacrificed himself to protect Wendel and the new Portal Master from Hektore's wrath, being recaptured in the process. Shortly afterwards, both Wendel and the new Portal Master retreat to the Sanctuary, the only area in the Radiant Isles where Hektore can't reach. After gathering enough Radiance Crystals and saving the other Seekers, the Skylanders are able to confront Hektore himself at the Dark Mirror. After inflicting enough damage on the fiend, they make their way towards the Mirror while dodging Hektore's attacks and activated a beacon using Wendel's staff that allowed the Mystic Seekers to destroy the Dark Mirror. Hektore begins to threaten the Skylanders and the new Portal Master in retaliation, but he is destroyed shortly after the Dark Mirror's destruction. Wendel is reunited with Fargus, who then gives his son the status of a true Seeker. Wendel speaks to the new Portal Master that they will be forever be part of the Radiant Isles and that their home is safe to thanks to them and their Skylanders. Master Eon then appears before the new Portal Master, congrulating them on their victory and viewing them as a true protector of Skylands before concluding that the journey with their Skylanders is only just beginning. Realms *Shattered Island *Perilous Pastures *Sky Schooner Docks *Stormy Stronghold *Oilspill Island *Dark Water Cove *Leviathan Lagoon *Crystal Eye Castle *Stonetown *Treetop Terrace *Falling Forest *Troll Warehouse *Goo Factory *Battlefield *Crawling Catacombs *Cadaverous Crypt *Creepy Citadel *Molekin Mine *Lava Lakes Railway *Quicksilver Vault *Arkeyan Armory *Lair of Kaos 3DS Version *Towersight Fields *The Proving Grounds *Flooded Viaducts *Radiant Fountain *Dreamgardens *Ashburrow *Magma Bank Island *Cinderstream Pass *Luminous Quarry *Lava Flow Grotto *Leaflook Village *Breakmarsh *Daystar Temple *Treetop Circle *Waterwalk Way *Snowblind Hills *Frostsedge *Glacial Slopes *Icelight *Aurora Peak *Sunblight Wood *Thundersquall *Whipwind Mountains *Stormseye *Galecrack Castle *Dark Mirror Adventure Packs Adventure Packs are additional levels for Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure that are purchased individually. They are packs that include the toy that unlocks the Adventure level, two magic items, and one Skylander. Adventure Pack Levels *Empire of Ice *Dragon's Peak *Darklight Crypt *Pirate Seas Skylanders: Universe Skylanders: Universe was an online virtual world based on Skylanders. The developer's primary goal was to allow children to creatively express themselves and interact with other children within a safe environment. The online game was closed down on April 30, 2013 to make way for a "new online experience". Voice Talent *Josh Keaton as Spyro *Daniel Hagen as Master Eon *Sumalee Montano as Cali *Patrick Warburton as Flynn *Michael Yurchak as Hugo *Kevin Michael Richardson as Stump Smash *Freddie Winston as Additional Skylander voices (uncredited) *Steven Blum as Auric/Additional Voices *Laura Bailey as Persephone *Chris Cox as Glumshanks *Anthony Hansen as Wendel *Richard Steven Horvitz as Kaos *James Haron as Fargus *Anthony Hansen as Wendel *Dave Wittenberg as Hektore *Other Additional voices: Jeff Bergman, Fred Tatasciore, Keith Silverstein, Dave Wittenberg, David Lodge, Liam O'Brien, Jen Olson, Thomas Bromhead, Salli Saffioti, Cam Clarke, Kathryn Cressida, Hunter Davis, Roger Jackson, Neil Kaplan, John Kassir, André Sogliuzzo, Keith Szarabajka, Salli Saffioti, Lani Minella, David Markus, Bruce Lanoil, Hope Levy, Lloyd Sherr, Courtenay Taylor, Amanda Wyatt Development Toys for Bob was given the opportunity to revive a Vivendi franchise, and they chose the Spyro the Dragon franchise. It was mentioned by Toys for Bob that attempts to revive broad-audience mascot franchises haven't seen predictable success in the game industry. 'Just creating a new Spyro game after the traditional fashion was unlikely to work', says Paul Reiche. And reinventing the character as a "really gritty, strange otherworldly Spyro" didn't seem like a promising idea. Spyro needed a radical new idea. Reiche says he 'had considered integrating technology with toys and games for a while, and it was the kind of concept that was so outlandish that it was the most promising idea the team sketched out for the brand.'Toys For Bob's Rewarding Skylanders Flight In 2007, after Vivendi merged with Activision, Toys for Bob began working on Skylanders. There were different early concepts for Spyro, including a "realistic, gritty" Spyro, a tiny Spyro that ran around the real world on book selves, and an origami Spyro that can take shape. However Activision wanted to do more with the character, so Toys for Bob kept coming up with imaginative ways to use the Spyro license, with toys being the way to do this. One of those ideas include playable little toy dragons that hatch from eggs for users to play with. Eventually, Spyro's Kingdom came into light.Mike Stout Skylanders GDC Speech 2012 (w Paul Reiche) Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure was originally going to be a mature Spyro game that included blood, but the developers of Toys for Bob lost their enthusiasm and felt that this direction didn't feel like 'Spyro', before saying that making a dark game isn't what their passion was about. They spent six months on a variety of different directions with Spyro, and with the time and budget given by Activision, Toys for Bob eventually came upon the idea of Skylanders.Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure preview: Babes in toyland Toys R Us has partnered with Activision and will help launch Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure this fall with a number of unnamed exclusives. The game and toys were developed by Toys for Bob. The game's main story was penned by Alek Sokolow and Joel Cohen who both worked on Pixar's original Toy Story film. This game was also originally revealed to be exclusive for the Wii, but when this game was revealed on February, it was announced that this game will be also be released for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, iPhone, iPad, the web, and even Microsoft Windows. early spyro concepts.png|Toys for Bob's early ideas for the Spyro license Controversy While Skylanders was still in development, it had received a large amount of negative criticism from the majority of the older Spyro fanbase much of which continues to this day. Common complaints include Spyro's different character design, the game's younger target audience (compared to The Legend of Spyro), the absence of popular characters from the Original ''series and ''The Legend of Spyro ''series (such as Hunter, Ignitus, etc.), the concept of using toys in order to play the game, and for being another continuity reboot. The negative criticism on the game also involved some fans claiming that ''Skylanders would "fail" upon its public release based on what they strongly dislike about the game when it was still in development. Several fans had also been sending hate mail and even death threats to both Activision and Toys for Bob in the hopes of trying to get them to cancel Skylanders, but both gaming companies have ignored the demands of the fans and were more focused on Skylanders' younger target audience. The executive producer of Skylanders, Jeff Poffenbarger, noted that he was aware of the negative reaction of the game from long-time Spyro fans and hard-core gamers, and acknowledged the issue that the negativity is not the demographic as they are aiming to take Spyro and introduce him to kids, the new target audience who have no idea who Spyro is.Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure adds toys to video game equation According to the Sterne Agee analyst, Arvind Bathia, Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure tested apparently very well with kids, who are the game's target audience.Analyst Sees Encouraging Diversification At Activision Blizzard Reception The game has received generally favorable reviews. Nintendo World Report gave both the Wii and 3DS version of Skylanders a 9 out of 10, praising the Wii version for fun gameplay, great production values and its perfection for young gamers, and the 3DS version for Unique and visually appealing characters, great for younger gamers, and well-designed 3D platformer.Skylanders Spyro's Adventure Gaming Nexus gave Skylanders a B+ and praised the game for taking the Spyro franchise to a younger audience, though noted that the game has a few flaws. Sometime afterwards, some of the negative Spyro fanbase became outraged when Gaming Nexus gave a positive review of Skylanders instead of a negative review that they were expecting Skylanders would receive based on only what they dislike about the game before its release.Review Destructoid praised the game with a 8 out of 10 saying, "It's not the most complex game on the market, but the innovative gadgetry and authentic thoughtfulness on the part of the developer stands out in a market so used to churning out the same old crap."Review: Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure GameSpot has reviewed the Xbox 360 version of the game and it was rewarded with a 7.5 out of 10 for its good concept that has been well executed with its family-friendly innovative gameplay, RPG-style progression and tie-in toys with brains that work really well along with the Downloadable content for the Adventure Pack Toys as well. But however, they criticized the game for it's easy difficulty, confusing multiplayer and that can only be offline, Costly to complete everything, The portal peripheral being emperamental at times, and the risk of losing the figures can be a bane.Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure Review Game Informer has given both the PS3 and the Xbox 360 versions of the game a 8.0 out of 10.0.Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure IGN gave Skylanders an 8.0 out of 10, saying that "Activision took a fun, but not particularly noteworthy game and made it a unique, flashy product" and Skylanders is "A fun, family action game in the vein of LEGO titles."IGN Wii Review Gallery PS3 Cover.jpg|Updated PS3 Cover of Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure 360 Cover.jpg|Updated Xbox 360 Game Cover of Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure Wii Cover.jpg|Updated Wii Cover of Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure PC Cover.jpg|Updated PC Cover of Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure 3DS Cover.jpg|Updated 3DS Cover of Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure Pirate Seas.jpg|Pirate Seas Adventure Pack Darklight Crypt.jpg|Darklight Crypt Adventure Pack pTRU1-11153399_alternate1_dt.jpg|A Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure Carrying Case Tower Case.jpg|Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure Tower Case PTRU1-10990313dt.jpg|Toys R' Us's Starter Pack (exclusive) Skylanderslogo.png Trivia *The game was originally going to be a darker Spyro game that included blood, but Toys for Bob removed the concept when they felt that the idea didn't feel like "Spyro" and it wasn't what their passion was about. *One of the two producers who worked on The Legend of Spyro ''series, Michael Graham, is currently in charge of the Spyro series. This would explain why Spyro has qualities from both the Legend and Classic Spyro in ''Skylanders, as shown in his character biography. *Although considered that the game of Skylanders is to be based on the original Spyro from his PlayStation days, [[Spyro (Skylanders)|Spyro in Skylanders]] isn't truly either the classic Spyro nor the Spyro from The Legend of Spyro, but a completely different Spyro that has the qualities of both of his alternate predecessors combined. *Spyro, Gill Grunt, and Trigger Happy are the only Skylanders whom Hugo called out by their names in the console versions of Skylanders, since they're the ones that you start the game with that come along with the console Starter Pack. When another Skylander appears, he just refers to them as "A Skylander!" *Only six of the Skylanders appeared in the storyline of the game (Spyro, Gill Grunt, Trigger Happy, Terrafin, Slam Bam, and Stump Smash). Reference List Category:Xbox 360 games Category:Video Games Category:2011 Video Games Category:Platformers Category:Multiplayer video games Category:Toys-to-life games